The swift expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) and its broad accessibility to billions worldwide is unmistakable. Not only has technology become more integrated into various sectors and routine business operations, (notably its role in reducing electric vehicle fires), but it has seamlessly woven itself into everyday activities and conversations. As AI continues to permeate our lives, how we approach and manage the implications of this becomes more important.
Just as climate change and sustainability have dominated headlines seemingly for decades, conversations about AI are hardly going to slow down anytime soon. If anything, they are just heating up. As such, it can be easy to feel desensitized, uncertain and unenthused towards AI and its potential future influence. In many ways, AI anxiety is similar to the worries and nervousness people feel about environmental degradation.
For many people, AI worries originate from uncertain feelings they have regarding their own future; how technology could impact or even replace jobs. Others fear that AI’s ability to perpetuate disinformation, misinformation, fake news, and biased or dangerous discourse ad infinitum is only going to widen political and social divides. Added to this is the associated worry of losing control over their data, security, and privacy when using open-source generative AI tools like ChatGPT. The possible knock-on implications this may have and the lack of transparency about how it works is a further concern for many.
Be assured that such fears and feelings are completely normal. Similar worries about past technological innovations like the Internet, computers, and smartphones were common, and nowadays it’s easy to look back at these incidents with sentimentality. Retrospectively, these large-scale innovations changed life as we knew it back then, and AI is doing much the same in this generation.
All is not However, it’s important to not become too invested, excessively worried or stressed about AI’s potential influence, and be blinded by the negatives. Busy entrepreneurs and business owners need to take every step possible to maintain control and level-headedness, especially nowadays. Confining yourself in an echo chamber of negativity can cloud your judgment about the potential positives and exciting changes afoot with AI.
By adopting a positive mindset and approach, you can alleviate many of these anxious thoughts and feelings, viewing AI as a cause for good, rather than a source of apprehension. AI stands to greatly improve areas like healthcare, education, sustainability, and many others. With responsible development, oversight, policies, and safeguards in place, AI can be shaped and deployed to augment and help, rather than negate and displace.
Considerable newspaper and article space is given to AI’s potential as an arbitrary technology serving a specific purpose. In other words, much discussion about AI focuses on the possible job losses that could occur if it continues to disrupt markets. This doesn’t do much to dispel fears about people working in fields where AI is more easily integrated, including administration, customer service and content creation.
Research does, however, show that AI will likely displace certain tasks and processes more so than whole jobs. A limited number of occupations are at risk of becoming fully automated. Businesses sector-wide have already begun deploying AI and automation tools to alleviate their teams from time-consuming and repetitive tasks, allowing them to dedicate more time towards high-value, strategic work.
It’s important to note that innate human abilities like creative thinking, emotional intelligence, collaboration, complex problem-solving and contextual experience cannot be entrusted to an AI algorithm that has to be told what to do. Therefore, rather than viewing AI as ‘the competition’, adopt a mindset that encourages using it to help and bolster your current skill sets.
In many areas like writing, design and analytics, AI systems are capable of assisting with tasks in helpful ways. However, it’s understandable to have reservations about using AI too much and too often. Therefore, setting clear boundaries for when and how much you choose to utilize AI is key.
When experimenting with AI tools, maintain a certain amount of oversight and management with them, This will prevent over reliance and maintain the ability for users to take what AI tools dispense at face value. It’s important to maintain a strict level of human supervision over any AI output to validate and correct any imperfections, falsehoods, errors or ‘hallucinations’ that tools are prone to experience.
Consider taking the following approaches to managing AI use thoughtfully:
Many AI tool vendors rely heavily on use cases, testing, and end-user input and feedback to refine and improve their products. Liaise with the developers and support teams of apps and solutions that you use, giving honest, valid and relevant feedback through forms or surveys. Those developers with a genuine interest in responsible and ethical AI will greatly appreciate your opinions, and allow them to fine-tune a product to better serve you and other users.
Remember that AI is what we make it – with ethically-minded, engaged, and cautious users directing the development of apps and solutions that shouldn’t be taken for granted. It is here to stay, but ultimately, users have the power to make it better.
To summarize, it’s perfectly reasonable and justified to feel anxious, angry, or even upset about AI when headlines continue to make waves across the globe. It’s easy to get sucked into worrying dystopian ‘what-if’ scenarios when we regularly see innovative products being deployed seemingly every week. However, despite this technology’s rapid emergence and evolution, focusing on the positives and remembering the key information outlined above can help alleviate worries.
AI does bring immense opportunities and not just risks. With the right approach, you can feel more at peace with your – again, perfectly valid – concerns and instead realize the huge potential benefits that await. Making your voice heard and communicating the values and principles you hold dear will collectively help shape AI responsibly.